Ciarán Mulholland Steps Aside

Press Statement from Ciarán Mulholland announcing his withdrawal as a candidate in the May local government elections.


For generations now the working class people of West Belfast have sustained grave social and economic deprivation. The poverty within our communities has been widely documented yet it is denied and appeased by the political establishment. The most vulnerable within our community continues to suffer the adverse affects of the draconian reforms by the status quo. Our people have been demoralised by the deceit of the political parties.
It is therefore imperative that the frustrations of our people and the present appetite for an alternative is maximise at the forthcoming elections and translated at the ballot box. Given the amount of candidates now intending to stand in the Black Mountain Ward of West Belfast and the uncertainty with the new super council wards, it is reasonable to conclude this may be counterproductive to the working class.

Therefore, it is with great reluctance following lengthy considerations with my election team and supporters that I have decided to stand aside in this year’s local government elections. This is done solely in the best interests of the working class electorate, to ensure alternative representations are successfully elected. I hope and pray that this difficult decision will contribute to change for our people.

I announced my candidacy following endeavours over several months, liaising with potential candidates and community organisations to establish a united front for these elections. It was unfortunate that this was not embraced. I would now urge all those who were intending to vote for me as an Independent Candidate for Change, to use their vote wisely and vote for change.

I would like to sincerely thank all those who assisted with my recent election campaign and the wider Socialist Republican Clann for their support. I am extremely humbled and privileged for their encouragement. I will now continue to work within my community on the ground ensuring our people are empowered and their voice is heard.


Ní neart go chuir le chéile.


Ciarán Mulholland | Neamhspléach


15ú Aibreán 2014

6 comments:

  1. so sorry to see Ciaran withdraw ! i understand totally the sentiment and the act of unselfishness and solidarity he is acting upon.
    I just wish independent candidates were given priority instead of going along with the age old 'party political lines'.
    The optimism i felt seeing so many people want to independently step up - but now feels almost quelled by alternative parties - this is in my opinion sad and one of the reasons that 'our story' is always doomed to fail.

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  2. Ciaran,
    A lot of people thought you had great potential and will be deeply disappointed at this news!

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  3. So sorry to read this announcement and can totally understand the reasoning behind it. However, being a supporter of independents I would urge you to rethink this decision. As I understand it the other candidates are members of political parties, Eirigi and People Before Profit. People Before Profit or as they are more commonly known the Socialist Workers Party stood in Derry and Mid-Ulster in the last election and have since disappeared.


    What I gauge is people are fed up playing second fiddle to party agendas whether they be consistent or set up for election purposes. I have received a lot of feed back from my blog and the feed back tells me people want independent representation, people who will put the needs of the people first and answer to them only. So sad to think that an opportunity could be lost to the people of West Belfast because of a failure to agree on a way forward. Standing your ground in some circumstances is laudable but there is a fine line between standing your ground and cutting your nose off to spite your face or in this case to fulfil a party agenda.

    No doubt the mainstream machines will be laughing all the way to the ballot box!!!!!!!!!!!

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  4. A gracious and progressive move by Ciarán. He is right to highlight the fact that the potential for co-operation between Alternative Republicanism was not grasped on this occasion,some would say it was spurned even. Best of luck to the remaining Republican/Socialists running.

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  5. The people need proper representation now more so than ever before,it seems to me that if any party or individual wishes to represent the people,then their work on the ground over these last few years should be the litmus test,irrespective of how many candidates or how big the parties standing are, quisling $inn £eind was built on such solid foundations,now like the dog that gets the name of an early riser they lie (literally)all day.we need an alternative to those that will indulge gladly in junkets while implementing austerity measures and call themselves socialist while the removal van takes their furniture to South Belfast or further afield.for the love of me I can,t understand how all those who claim to have the peoples interests at heart could not have met and agreed a suitable candidate/s.party politics need to be left on the back burner in the interest of those who badly need representation,

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  6. I second what Pip said there, it's the right move under the circumstances as Padraig MacCoitir has a real shot at taking a seat after his showing last time around. Good luck to him and fair play to Ciaran for an honourable move. It's only fair to say that young Tommy Doherty also had the courage to reach the same decision a few months back. Agree with Pip and Marty that it would perhaps have been worth looking into whether a pact could have been brokered in the first place and whether this could be an option going forward. Good luck anyway to Padraig and eirigi, there's no doubt if elected he'll fulfil all the functions people require of an elected rep and without any question will put his constituents first and foremost. It's eirigi policy at the end of the day

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